Tavern Tales: Come on in and Have a Drink! Part VI

[DarkRider]

The door to the Ayleid ruin was half submerged into the hard earth of the Colovian Highlands. The carved stone did not want to give way, but with some brute strength the Nords were able to force it open; the air from the sealed ruin escaped like a musty sigh. Torches were lit and the group made their way inside the pitch black of the entry hall. The Ayleids were well known for their love of mining Welkynd stone and the sparkling gems typically littered the halls of their fortresses like eternal lanterns. This ruin was different; the only light piercing the darkness came from their own torches and they had to proceed with care to avoid a misstep.

Elm withdrew a small pendulum and mirror from her satchel and began to scry for bearing by the light of Quinn’s torch. The mirror had a simple cross etched into the glass and at each cross section the pendulum would indicate the proper path on the mirror. For a long time, no one spoke as they moved through the silent tomb of a ruin; they didn’t want to draw more attention to themselves than necessary in the event they were not alone. Red was leading a few paces ahead of the group, watching for traps and other dangers. The Nords lumbered to the rear, weapons in hand and waiting for something to bash.

“Thanks for what ye did back there…er…Grondy,” Garulf suddenly said quietly, skipping over his usual kidding, “saving Red I mean.”

Grond recognized the tone of his boyhood friend’s voice, “Ye would have done the same had ye been closer,” he offered clapping a hand on Garulf’s shoulder, “I know ye love her Garulf, she knows it too.”

“Aye,” Garulf agreed, “but until earlier…the thought of losing her again, I just…” he stopped and shook his head, “bah, not the time for this blubbering, we kin talk about it later.”

“Suit yerself dragon breath,” Grond replied nudging him.

In the darkness Garulf lost his balance and stumbled a step, catching himself on the wall, but where his hand met stone the wall gave way with a pronounced click. The hall began to rumble and Red’s voice shouted through the corridor.

“Trap! Move this way now!”

The group hurried forward as the tunnel began to fill with stone behind them, each taking a few bumps and bruises before clearing the trap’s path of destruction. When the rumbling stopped they were sheltered inside an alcove, but the tunnel back had been filled with stone.

“Grond pushed me,” Garulf blurted out, breaking the silence sheepishly.

“He’s daft,” Grond snorted, “I tapped him…and he fell over like a card house.”

Quinn growled, “Bloody Nords,” he mumbled before storming down the only path left to them, his torch beginning to fade as he left.

“Everyone okay? We’ll find another way out,” Red said, more for herself than any of the others, “The Ayleids always had more than one way in and out; it’s just a matter of finding it. Let’s focus on our task for now.”

An eerie, ghostly howl floated down the tunnel toward them and they all turned to peer into the void ahead. Elm’s jaw was suddenly taut and without a word she dashed into the darkness without torch nor ally in search of her companion.

[DarkRider]

Elsewhere in Tamriel...

“Cap’n?” a burly voice called through the darkness in a harsh whisper rousing him from a restless sleep.

“Jolly?” he mumbled trying to see through the black, but there was only enough light cascading through the shadows from a distant light source to barely make out the form of the bars ahead.

“Come to yer door,” the voice of his first mate prodded him.

Calico Jack Rackham struggled to move toward the bars of his cell. The room was little more than a hole carved in the ground and lined with stone on all sides. After long weeks of imprisonment and starvation, he had little energy to offer to the task, but somehow managed to drag himself to the bars as asked. A hand appeared, reaching from the next cell over and Jack reached out to take a hold on it like a life preserver on the black sea.

“There ye are Jacko,” Jolly said , his relief evident, “listen, I don’t mean to worry ye none, but we’ve got more trouble ahead than we’ve been thinking. There’s a little grate in me cell that looks out into the courtyard. I don’t think we’re waiting on a magistrate after all.”

“Why do you say that?” Jack asked wearily.

Jolly hesitated, he couldn’t see Jack but could hear the weakness in his voice, “They’re building a gallows, lad, I think they mean to hang us. Heard em talking about hangings for piracy.”

There was a long silence then, “Well…that’s…not good news,” Jack replied.

Jolly snorted, “Not at all my lad, and if I ever see that thieving scoundrel ye call a friend again in this life or the next I’m gonna squeeze the life outta him with me bare hands,” he took a breath, “What should we do?”

“I suppose bawling and praying is unbefitting a pirate.”

“Jack!” even in the dark of the pits Jolly’s outrage at the thought was apparent.

Jack withdrew his hand, “What? We’ve been rotting in here for a month by my count give or take a week, we’ve tried getting out every way we knew, not sure what else we can do. Take an act of the gods to get us out of here now,” he leaned back against the wall of his cell.

The sound of nails driving into wood from the courtyard beyond drifted through the grate in Jolly’s cell; a fanfare for the coming of death...

[WhoGuru]

"Stay right behind me." Red ordered the Nords and sprinted after Elm and Quinn. The ghostly howling continued ahead of them. Red's torch barely pierced the inky black that had swallowed the ruin in the absence of it's usual Welkynd adornment. Though she ran, here eyes were on the floor ahead of her, picking out each crevice in the floor by the meager torch light as they went, alert for traps.

They came out in a large chamber. The vaulted ceiling was lost high overhead and sounds echoed in the darkness. "There!" Red hissed. Quinn's torchlight winked several meters away and Red aimed for it. "Mind your step." She said as she realized they were stepping out onto some sort of walkway. She went a few feet and stopped as a gust of air brushed across her forehead. A large metal guillotine suddenly dropped just in front of her, slamming into the ancient stone.

"Red?" Garulf's voice was right behind her and his hands took her arms, pulling her back several paces. She chuckled and patted his hands.

"I'm fine. Felt it coming." She smirked at him and Grond's face as he came into the torchlight. "Just give me a sec to get across and I'll get these turned off."

"These?" Grond said and in answer, Red handed him the torch and made a neat jump over the large blade, then stood still against it as a second suddenly dropped in front of her, making the men jump. She hopped over that one and waited again for the next to fall. When it did she waved at them and vanished into the darkness.

A moment later, the chains holding the blades groaned with movement and they retracted upward, soon vanishing from sight and Red reappeared with a crooked grin. "Come on my boys." She waved then on and headed towards Quinn's torch again. The sounds of the howling had grown, louder, deeper and Red drew her sword, holding the Black Rose loosely at her side. At the midpoint of the bridge, it branched and she followed it.

"Elm? Quinn?" Red called softly as the torchlight neared. She felt the warmth of Grond and Garulf at her sides then, listening, her eyes widened. Red turned quickly and took the torch from Garulf, jamming the head into the stones and putting it out. When Grond began to speak, she put an urgent hand on his face and felt him nod against her palm, understanding silence was needed. Together they crept forward as their eyes began to adjust to the strange light coming from ahead of them and an unfamiliar chanting began to breathe along the air, curling the hairs on the back of Red's neck.

Quinn's torch was flickering ahead. She found a banister in front of them and placed her hands on the cold stone of the rail, the Nords coming up beside her, and looked out and down. It was not Quinn's torchlight they had been following. Faint visions of flames danced here and there in the air. Below on the floor of the cavernous room, dimly lit by the ghost light, was a raised dais and alter. It was not that made Red's jaw drop. Surrounding the alter, spread out across the dais were ghosts and by the look of the robes she could vaguely make out, they had once been Necromancers. On the altar lay a skeleton and Red's fingers squeezed on the rail as it moved suddenly and she knew, though the poor soul was long dead, it was still being tortured in this place. She could imagine no worse hell.

Garulf's mouth touched her ear and his voice whispered almost silent. "Where are they?" Red shook her head and used the ghost light to peer about the chamber, what she could see of it. She moved slowly along the balcony, eyes ranging below and she stopped. She could see through one of the wraith like Necromancers to the wall behind it. There was an arched door in the wall and hunched just inside the door was the unmistakable blond head of Elm, the unnatural flames dancing on the lenses of her Dwemer spectacles and it was that that had caught Red's attention. She nudged Grond next to her and pointed down. Worry began to nudge at her as she couldn't find Quinn anywhere and she turned from the balcony to find a way down to Elm and did not see several of the dead Necromancer's heads turn slowly in their direction.

[Xinimator]

A young person was perched on a column, overlooking the scene. Two people had entered the room a few moments ago: a female elf and an imperial male. The imperial had moved on long before the elf came, so the Witch Hunter did not know whether he was dead or alive. The ghosts that were here earlier were no longer visible. She did not know if they had fled or setting up a trap. Either way, the Witch Hunter notched an arrow into an elven bow as the elf was cautiously wondering around, just to be safe. Necromancers, even dead ones, were always trouble. With her raven black hair, nobody will notice her even if she did loosen one. The only problem would be her red eyes.

A split second later, the ghosts reappeared out of thin air and rushed onto the elf. It looked like the elf would’ve had no chance to escape, but with surprisingly high agility, she dodged the Necromancer’s hands and pulled out a steel shortsword. The Witch Hunter let loose an arrow, where hit two ghosts behind the elf. The ghosts fell onto the floor as the elf conjured a fireball and threw it at a group of ghosts in front of her. "Wait a minute, ghosts are supposed to disappear, not fall to the floor. Who are these…"

But before the Witch Hunter could finish her thought, one of the ghosts shot a lightning bolt towards the direction where the Witch Hunter was. The lighting bolt missed her by inches, but she was knocked off balance by the light and heat and fell off the column she was perched on. She held on to the edge, but could not see what was going on. She could only blindly hold on as the battle raged on. But all too soon, it was dead quiet.

When she climbed back up, the supposedly-ghosts were scattering towards the dais. She looked to see what happened to the elf and saw that she was unconscious and imprisoned in a room across the chamber. As the Witch Hunter tended to her burns, the ghosts formed a circle around the alter where the skeleton lays. They started chanting and, her stomach turning, she knew it could only mean one thing:

They were going to sacrifice her and soon.

----------------------------------------------------

The Witch Hunter was thinking how to free the elf and not get herself killed in the process, but before she could formulate a plan, several more adventurers entered the room on the bridge.

“For god sake, does anyone not read signs anymore?†the Witch Hunter thought savagely as she tightens the bandage on her arm. She thought she was going to have to kill them all just so they can at least die peacefully. The group of adventurers stood at the middle of the bridge watching the Necromancers for quite some time before they moved right, towards the antechamber leading to the dais.

The Witch Hunter jumped from column to column and reached the door before the group of adventurers. As she jumped from the first column, she noticed that the Necromancers spotted their presence and were headed towards the antechamber as well.

Cursing, the Witch Hunter entered the antechamber and climbed up the crooked wall towards a ledge indented within the wall. As she waited, she casted shock-shield on herself and notched another arrow. That’s when she spotted the group of rocks attached to the ceiling.

“If I can just loosen those rocks, I could crush the Necromancers. But how?†She knew she only had seconds to react before they came in, so she looked around frantically for something that would cause a large vibration. Then she saw a button on the opposite wall as a group entered the antechamber.

[charlescrowe]

Raurke smiled as the first rays of sunlight splashed across his masked face. It was a good day for practice. As he stood in front of the polished silver mirror, Raurke fastened a light steel plate over his chest by a quartet of leather straps. The plate itself, no bigger then a dinner plate, was positioned squarely over the elf's heart. On top of this, Raurke pulled on a plain black robe, fastening his sword belt over top of that, around his waist. Raurke looked himself over, then satisfied, disappeared with a faint pop.

The yard behind the Tavern was devoid of much human activity as Raurke materialised at the back door. He looked about, then spotted a grand oak, a man's width in size. "Perfect." he muttered, then vanished, only to reappear within sword's reach of the now cloven tree, Glass Rose unsheathed and in-hand. With a satisfied chuckle, Raurke grabbed the woodcutter's axe stuck in a near by stump, and started cording the remains of his would-be training dummy.

[Xinimator]

The Witch Hunter sighed a relief as the group that entered the room were the adventurers. As they observed the room, wary for one of their own or for more traps, the Dark Elf looked at the second door: It looked untouched at the moment. She averted her eyes back to the pile of rocks attached to the ceiling. She knew a spell that could loosen the rocks from the ceiling, but she had never attempted it before and worried whether she might hit the adventurers instead or collapse herself under the immense amount of Magicka needed.

As one of the Nords started an argument with another one in a harsh whisper, there was a movement on the left side as the second door opened. Swearing, the Witch Hunter notched an arrow and released it to the left of the first group. The red-headed Imperial turned quickly to the sound and saw that they were not alone.

The Necromancers, making no hesitation, charged after the Imperial. As the Imperial readied herself, one of the Nords gave out a battle cry as he charged in front of her. The other reacted the same and both the Necromancers and the group of adventurers collided right under the rocks. The Witch Hunter released more arrows as each Necromancer went down under the force of the three adventurers and the Dark Elf’s hand-crafted arrows. The battle raged on for what seemed like hours, lightning streaking across the room and fire blazing and burning the walls. The adventurers did not seem to be showing any signs of fatigue or weakness. But the Necromancers were numbered in too many and finally, one of the Nords collapsed as another lighting strike streaked across the room. Swearing again, knowing that this will end in unnecessary bloodshed, the Witch Hunter pointed her hand at the rocks and muttered “Silex silicis decidoâ€.

Whether it was by the Nine’s intervention or by shear dumb luck, the rocks hesitated for a split second, allowing the adventurers to back away to the right side of the room. As the Necromancers toppled under the immense weight, the Dark Elf collapsed herself, almost sending her off the edge. The spell took too much Magicka and the Witch Hunter could not hold on any longer as she collapsed and tumbled off the ledge, blackness enveloping her….

----------------------------------------------------

“Grond, mate! You okay?†Garulf shook Grond as they surveyed the damage. It seems that the rocks collapsed on their own at the exact same time they were backing away. What was also strange was that the rocks killed all the ghosts as well.

“I’m fine, Garulf, I’m fine. Just a little burn, that’s all.†Grond grabbed Garulf’s shoulder as he hoisted himself up from the floor. The burn did not look severe; nothing a healing potion wouldn’t fix. Red was looking the other way at a wall. Grond and Garulf could not see what she was looking at, though, amongst the greenish light of the small Welkynd stones on the ceiling.

“Well, can’t have you collapsing on the way out, eh? You think that’s all of them?â€

“I only counted about fourteen of them. How many more could there possibly be?†Grond was back on his feet and trying to shrug off the burn. It was starting to sting.

“Hpmh,†Garulf said, glancing at the rocks again. “It’ll be some coincidence if that’s actually all of them under those rocks. Hey Red, where are you going?†For Red had started forward to a shadowed mass below a ledge.

Grond shrugged and started after Red, followed by Garulf. When Red reached the mass, she saw that it was a Dunmer, unconscience and breathing very hard. As Red examined the Dark Elf on the ground, Grond picked up a bow beside her, commenting, “Hmm…Elven-made…and not the usual design either…â€

“She’s a Dunmer,†Garulf said as he helped Red lift the Dunmer from the floor. She looked drained, almost dead. But as to reassure them that she was alive, she grabbed onto Red’s shoulder. “Of course Dunmer are going to have their own unique designs. They’re not like Wood-Elves, ya know.â€

“Oh, I know that,†Grond grumbled. “I wasn’t criticizing, you know. I was just commenting.â€

“Bah, commenting my left foot!†Garulf snorted.

“Oh really? Then what do you think this design is?â€

“How should I know? I’m a Nord, for god sake, not some pilgrim. Not like I lived in a forest full of elves my whole lifetime!â€

“Exactly my point!†Grond smirked at Garulf as Red scowled at the both of them, muttering, “Pathetic…â€

“What point? You never made a point.â€

“Oh, shut up, the both of you. You're worse than a pair of starving rats.†The Dunmer muttered quietly as she struggled to get up. Grond and Garulf, silenced by the Dunmer’s sudden awakening, rushed to Red’s side, but she’s was on her feet the next second, though a little unsteady.

“Are you alright, Dunmer?†Red asked.

“I’m fine…just never done...this type of spell before…â€

“Wait a minute,†Grond interrupted. “You set off those rocks?â€

Mutely, the Dunmer nodded. “I was worried I might hit you instead, but it seems that the Nine was at your side.â€

“Not on yours, apparently.â€

“I’ll be fine…just too much Magicka used too fast.†Suddenly, the Dunmer’s hand slipped off of Red’s shoulder. Red was prepared to catch her, but it seems there was no need. The Dunmer returned to her full height and glanced at the Grond for quite some time before Grond realized that he was holding her bow. Hastily, he handed it back to her.

“My name is Arisis. I’m formally a Witch Hunter, but most people refer to me as a Necromancer Hunter, due to my vast knowledge of Necromancy and because I help out the Mages Guild every once in a while. And you are…?â€

“Most people refer to me as Red. This is Grond,†Grond nodded in acknowledgement. “and Garulf,†Garulf shrugged and smiled sheepishly at his name. “We’re looking for our friend, Quinn. Have you seen him?†Red asked as Garulf rushed off to the Necromancer chamber to retrieve Elm.

Arisis sighed and shook her head. “I saw him cross the chamber some time ago, but he left through the same door on the other side of the room. I do not know what happened to him.â€

Red looked the other direction, perhaps to hide her disappointment. A few awkward moments later, a noise caused Arisis and Red to turn to their direction: Garulf had returned, along with Elm.

“Elm! Thank god!†Red rushed over to Elm and hugged her. Elm was a little pale, given the recent events, but other than that, she was unharmed.

Arisis quickly glanced at Elm before declaring, “I should be going. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, the three of you. The way out is through that door,†Arisis pointed to the north-west at a secluded door in the corner. “Be mindful of traps and pit holes. There’s plenty of them. I’m sure that is also where you will likely find your other friend.†Arisis turned and started a brisk walk when someone shouted,

“Hey, wait!â€

[DarkRider]

The dark elf paused in her retreat to see Red standing ahead of her group, hands resting on hips, her jaw set seriously, “We’re grateful for your help, and we owe you one for it,” she began, “East of this ruin, across the river you’ll find a tavern hidden in the wood. If you ever have need of some help, you’ll find it there.”

The Dunmer hesitated, and then nodded once in understanding before vanishing like smoke in the darkness. The trio turned their attention to Elm, who in the torchlight looked no worse for wear.

“Alright then, Elm?” Red asked.

The half breed smiled and nodded once, “I’m fine, took you guys long enough to catch up,” she grinned straightening her spectacles, “Quinn went through that hall there,” right back on task, Elm took the lead, lighting a torch, and showing them the way.

The tunnels twisted on for what seemed like forever. It was easy to track Quinn as this section of the ruin was so caved in and shambled there really was only one way to go. As they reached the next open room they heard a hushed curse echo through the room followed by a grunting sound. They spotted Quinn in the lower part of the pit struggling with a welkynd switch. When they got closer they could see he looked somewhat singed around the edges. He sighed wearily when he noticed them.

“About time you lot showed up,” he said, “what kept you?”

“Didn’t ye see the necromancers?” Grond asked jabbing at him.

Quinn frowned and took a step back, “No, where?”

“In the last chamber,” Red answered, “you must have gone right passed them. They gave us a bit of trouble though,” her eyes flickered to Elm.

Quinn looked at his half breed partner quizzically; Elm shook her head no in a subtle way, and he shrugged accepting her silent report that she was well. Quinn turned back to the switch, “There are six of these. I thought they had to be hit in a certain sequence, but I’ve tried the most reasonable mathematical combinations, none have worked,” he explained, “and if I get shocked once more I think I might explode.”

Elm’s face quickly fell serious as her brain moved into puzzle solving mode. She ran her hands over the switches and was able to glean a small vision of hands in the ancient past holding the switch.

“I think, if we can activate them another passage will open,” Quinn continued, “The only other passage is that doorway there and it leads out.”

“It will,” Elm confirmed by her vision, “but all of the switches must be pressed at once to reach the lower chambers.”

Garulf frowned as he took stock of the switches scattered around the room, “There’s only five of us and six switches.”

Grond positioned himself between two of the switches, but pressing one, his fingertips couldn’t even reach the other switch when he stretched his arms as wide as he could manage, “No good, we’ll need a sixth.”

Red’s mind darted to the dark elf from earlier, Arisis. On her own she could surely catch up to the witch hunter, “You all wait here,” Red instructed, her eyes sparkled with daring, “I will return, with help if she’s willing.”

[charlescrowe]

As Raurke brought the axe down on the last log, it struck him. He hadn't been this calm and happy since his childhood, doing chores for the farmers of Weye on the bank of Lake Rumare. The thought pulled tears to his eyes as Raurke remembered those worry-free days with his parents. Seemingly out of no where, Serenity grabbed Raurke from behind, whispering in his ear. "I miss them so much Raurke" her tears falling onto his shoulder. "Me too, Seren." He sighed, letting them both fall to his knees. "They risked their lives to give us another chance, and I go throw it away with revenge schemes..." Raurke growled, dropping his facade and looking in contempt at his gnarled, dead skin.

[WhoGuru]

Red darted back the way they had come, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness rather than light a torch and followed where she thought Arisis had gone. On the other side of the chamber where the wraith Necromancer's had been, Red stopped and listened to the sounds of the ruin. She could hear the skittering of some small creature, the settling of ancient stonework, distantly the odd hollow sound of dry bones and knew there were Skeletons waiting on them somewhere. She tilted her head then and caught the faint sound of a booted foot sliding on stone.

With a smile she followed the sound, moving swiftly in the dark through the half seen shadows of walls. Red found a stair and cautiously took it to the floor above, ears alert for the sound of Arisis' feet. As she reached the first turn, that sound had vanished. She edged out into a larger chamber and found the dim glow of welkynd stones on the opposite side. They provided a meager boost of light in the room and she quickly saw the small movement of something on the other side of the chamber.

Red unslung her Welkynd Bow, notching an arrow and sighted down it's length, alert for any other signs of movement but saw none. As she waited for the Skeleton to come into the open, she noticed rows of small holes in the floor near the back of the room and grinned. She lowered her aim and let fly an arrow at the floor, sending it skittering noisily into the room and then waited in the shadows.

The Skeleton came round the pillar, walking quickly and unknowingly toward the sound. As it neared the arrow and saw Red, the floor suddenly dropped beneath it. The Skeleton had time for little more than a surprised hiss and she heard the crash when it hit bottom. Red stepped across the room and looked over the edge. The bones of the Skeleton were tumbling about below in between rows of vicious, rusted spikes.

A slight sound behind her gave Red warning and she whirled, bow raised and another arrow notched and then smiled, seeing Arisis in her sights.

"You're fast." Arisis said quietly and smiled.

"I was looking for you." Red lowered the bow. "We need a sixth pair of hands down there, if you're up for what I'm sure will end up in mayhem somewhere." She chuckled. "And treasure of course."

Arisis' eyes lit and she nodded. "For some coin I could come help." She waited patiently until Red shrugged and stepped ahead of her leading the way. Arisis followed closely behind and Red could almost hear her thinking to herself if she really wanted to join their party. She smirked and led on down the stairs.

They reached the chamber where they had met and crossed the bridge, Arisis a silent shadow at her back. Soon they heard the chatter of the others as they discussed the switches and Red could even pick out Elm's ever present mumbling as she discussed the engineering of the thing with herself.

"Found her!" Red said as they entered the chamber. Arisis slipped in quietly behind her with only a nod at the others. "Pick a switch." Red told her and did so herself, tossing a wink to Garulf as she took the one beside him. They each took a switch, and with nods to each other, pressed together as one.

The blocks retracted slowly into the stone pedestals. For a moment, nothing happened.

"Maybe it's broken." Garulf said with a grin. "Older than Grond this place and that's saying something."

"Keep it up Dragon bait and you'll be staying here in pieces." Grond tossed back. Red was about to say something and the sound of stones moving stopped her. Around them, six sections of wall were slowly lowering in sections into the floor of the room.

"I don't like this." Elm whispered as Quinn stepped up beside her, staff suddenly in his hand. Red and the others did the same and Red felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as the last of the great slabs slipped from sight, leaving six dark openings in their place.

A hissing sound broke the silence, followed by the sound of metal clearing scabbard and Red groaned. "Why is nothing ever easy in these places?"

[Xinimator]

In Anvil...

“Tie off the sails and bring her to port.â€

“Aye, Captain!†the crew chanted back.

The Tonbo Maru glided through the rocky waters, slicing through the waves like a butterknife on jelly. The dark painted bamboo gleamed in the midday sun as they brought her up to the port of Anvil. As the black sails were tied to the main mast, a young woman climbed up to the poop deck.

The woman was wearing a clad of red and black clothing, with a gold armor plate on her left shoulder. Her black braids waved in the salty wind as she stared aimlessly in a random direction, vibrations on the ship coming from all directions. In attempt to infer the vibrations better, Hayami shifted her bare feet slightly. Behind her, she felt familiar footsteps and smiled.

“Captain, what are your orders?†Bos’n Jatu, a dark redguard, asked. Hayami turned towards his voice. “Shall we pillage Anvil for supplies or shall we be honest pirates for once?â€

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll see plenty of action in Anvil without pillaging it,†Hayami smirked. “In case you have forgotten, I am most wanted in three countries now.â€

“Aye, a brutal winter in Hammerfell, that was. It’s a surprise those poor saps ain’t turn blue yet,†Jatu barked out laughing. Hayami laughed with him, saying, “Aye, I’m sure they’ll turn blue soon enough. Nay, we shall be honest for today.†Jatu nodded and barked orders to the rest of the crew.

Tonbo Maru landed on the port closest to the ocean, in case of a quick escape. As Hayami jumped off the ship with grace, the rest of the crew split up into groups of five. For several hours, they wandered around Anvil, pausing in between to smirk at the guards as they dealt with a pitiful beggar when there are bigger fish to fry 10 feet away.

“Ha, as if they don’t have anything better to do,†Jatu laughed as a crowd formed around the two people. Hayami listened to the argument, her jaw set serious. Then, she formed a reckless idea and smiled at the thought of it.

“Boys, I think it’s time we high-tail it out of here, aye?â€

First Mate Bokar looked at Hayami with a confused look, but Reek, a reckless Argonian, smiled ruthlessly and said, “Aye, I agree with the Captain. Shall I?â€

Without an answer, Reek walks towards the group and squeezes himself through. Hayami sets herself to run and no sooner than she steps back, a commotion runs through the crowd and Reek runs high-tail out of the crowd towards the gates. Feeling the vibrations, Hayami runs towards the guard, her sword drawn out.

The two collide and soon the rest of the city guard comes. But so does the rest of Hayami’s crew. The street soon turns into an arena and every pirate and every city guard is fighting while the citizens flee in terror, including the beggar, who was clutching a bag of gold.

Hayami had brought down the guard that she was dueling when the Legion arrives at the front gate. Of course, she didn’t know that; all she knew that more guards had come through the front gate and that it was time to high-tail it out of there. Hayami ran in a random direction, not knowing which direction was due to the amount of vibration issuing from all four corners and behind her. Hayami ran into an alleyway and saw there was a dead end. Feeling around, she saw that the wall was too smooth to climb over. But before she could think of another plan, the Legion finally cornered her and advanced slowly towards her.

“Gentlemen, how pleasant to see you again,†Hayami smirked. “Course, I really don’t have time to stay and chat, as you can very well imagine.†When the Legion kept advancing forward, Hayami drew out a grenade from her pack on her belt and tossed it towards them.

The effect was immediate: a colossal explosion rang through the alley and the guards back out of the flame and smoke, giving Hayami the chance to run past them. Jatu yelled, giving Hayami her sense of direction. As they ran through the shipyard with the Legion on their tails, Hayami yelled, “Klork, set loose the sails!â€

“Aye Captain!†And the rest of the crew jumped onto the ship as she was pulling out of the dock. Hayami climbed over the ledge just as the Legion loosened a volley of arrows at them.

“Captain, the Legion’s attempting to block us off!†Jatu called as there was a bang and a loud splash near the starboard bow. Hayami growled and said to Klork, “Klork, turn ship to port and set anchor. Bokar, make ready the cannons on starboard, both top and bottom. Jatu, when I give the word, fire all cannons. I want us out of here as soon as possible.â€

“Aye Captain!†And the crew set forward to set ready the cannons as another one nearly missed the Tonbo Maru by inches, hitting the water 15 feet away. Hayami, remembering the last time they went into battle with a Legion ship, backed towards the port bow. Bokar try to say something, but was drowned by another set of cannons hitting the water. Hayami, howeverm knew what it meant though, and ordered Jatu, “Fire all!â€

Twelve cannons went off in a chain and, as far as Hayami could here, at least eight had hit their mark. The Legion fired again, this time two cannons hit the hull of the ship, causing her to sway ominously. As soon as everybody had gotten their balanced again, they fired once more towards the Legion. The battle was short-lived, however: the accuracy of their cannons far outmatched the Legions and within a quarter of an hour, all that was left of the ship was burnt wood, singing metal, and sinking soldiers.

The crew was quiet as they peered over the edge, past the hazy smoke, searching for perhaps any sign of life. Due to the heaviness of the Legion's armor, one of the crew said, it would be impossible for them to make it. "They would've drowned and gone down to Davy Jone's Locker before they even knew what happened."

The crew turned their heads back to the watery depths and stood quietly in shock for a few more moments. “Ha ha," Jatu finally said, smiling, "those tin cans aren’t as tough as they boast, eh?†Jatu laughed as everybody laughed and cheered their victory over the Legion. Hayami smiled and laughed as the Tonbo Maru sailed towards the sunset.

[Xinimator]

Nobody moved as dark shadows approached them. Red heard Arisis mutter a word in a strange tongue, but Red had no idea what it meant. But moments later it seemed the torch grew brighter and illuminated the room, and the others inhaled sharply.

They were surrounded by skeletons, slowly approaching them as their heavy boots dragged against the rocky floor. Their rusty weapons gleamed in the torch light and their hollow skulls swaying ominously on their perch. Red stepped back slowly and tried to count how many skeletons, but there were far too many for all six of them to comprehend.

Arisis glanced at Red and could see that their situation was dire. However, Arisis did not feel drained any longer and could feel Magicka surging through her body as her heart thumped loudly, desperately trying to escape the cage it was confined within.

The skeletons stopped all of the sudden and just stared at the intruders with their dead eyes. They stood there, as if they were waiting for something.

“Well,†Arisis whispered, “now’s as good of a time as any.†But before Red could respond with a question, Arisis yelled, “Incende!â€

A skeleton burst into flame and as the other skeletons looked around in surprised, hissing, Arisis leapt forward and knocked the nearest skeleton’s head flying towards the opposite wall. Everybody jumped into battle as Arisis leapt back, nearly avoiding a skeleton’s axe. Quinn jumped in beside Arisis and swung his staff upward, knocking the skull off.

Everybody scattered as the skeletons reacted and charged after them. Two minutes into the battle, Arisis froze several more skeletons and set five aflame as she constantly switched to her blade. Red loosened several arrows to skeletons’ heads and kicked another at her side in the chest.

“Red, behind you!†Arisis cried. Red looked around and ducked just in time as a blade sliced through thin air, right where Red’s head originally was. Red round-house kicked the skeleton in the legs, which caused the lower body to detach itself from the upper body.

“Thanks,†and Red darted off to another group of skeletons whom Elm was engaged in. Grond swung his battle-axe and knocked several skeletons flying towards the opposite side of the room. Garulf had the most opponents converging on him and despite his attempts, he could not bring them down fast enough. Then Garulf got an idea and backed away towards one of the switches, “Hey, you slimy pieces of bone!†Garulf taunted, “Yeah you! Come and have a go at if you think you’re so tough!â€

“Garulf, what in bloody god’s name are you doing?!†Grond called out, but Garulf ignored him, positioning himself so that he can press the switch in the shortest amount of time. The skeletons glared at him, hissing, and charged. Garulf, hoping that the trap still worked, waited until the skeletons were one heartbeat away, closed his eyes and pressed the switch.

Lighting streaked across the room with a bright flash and a loud, tremendous bang. The lightning overshot the others and aimed straight Garulf. In about a quarter of a second, the lightning missed and hit the skeletons instead, blowing them up into a cloud of dust, their charred remains flying through the air. Garulf felt the intense heat splash against his face and his ears ringing in protest of the loud bang, but when he opened his eyes, he saw a quarter of the group he was originally fighting. Smirking, Garulf ran after them and swung his battle-axe.

But Garulf’s little trick did not help Arisis as much. One of the flying skulls hit Arisis on the head, causing her to double over, her eyes squeezed shut and the back of her head bursting with pain. The skeleton she was fighting took its cue and knocked Arisis to the ground with the flat side of a claymore. Red, seeing that Arisis was in trouble, loosened a Welkynd arrow at the skeleton’s head as he was about to bring the whole sword down. Red rushed over to help Arisis up, asking, “You okay?â€

“Yeah, I’m fine,†Arisis replied and she and Red stared at each other’s eyes before Grond accidentally ran into them.

----------------------------------------------------

“Garulf, you crazy-headed piece of dragon meat,†Grond said fifteen minutes later when the battle was over. Everyone came out with only minor scratches and bruises, but nothing major or serious. “What the heck were you thinking? What if that trap didn't work?â€

“Then you would have probably jumped in and saved my neck, just like always" Garulf smirked.

Grond shook his head, "Ye were always the crazy one, Dragon meat. But I don't feel like dragging you out of this hole in the ground in bits and pieces, ya hear?"

"After when ye said you were gonna slice me up yerself,"

"Well that was different...."

Arisis sighed and rolled her eyes as they continued to argue and looked around at the scene at large. Nothing seemed to have changed except it was unnaturally quiet. There didn't seem to be any way out except through probably one of those openings.

"Alright, if it'll make ya feel better..." Grond said and he went off and searched one of the six openings at random. Red’s eyes followed Grond then turned back to the group. That’s when she noticed blood dripping down someone’s arm.

“You’re bleeding,†Red said as Arisis removed the bandaging to reveal a deep, dark red wound that looks as if it was burned at one point.

Arisis stared at the wound, replying, “It’s fine, it was there before. Although I have to admit, that one skeleton gave me quite a beating,†She half-smiled as she attempted to rewrap her arm.

“Hold on, let me see that,†Elm asked, stepping forward.

Arisis looked at Elm and asked, “You know something about healing?â€

Elm nodded and Arisis unwrapped the bandage once more. Elm leaned closer to examine the wound and looked away to search for something in her bags.

“It looks as if it was burned off at one point,†Quinn said, peering over Elm’s shoulder as she applied some thick paste to the wound.

“Yes,†Arisis muttered; the paste made the wound sting unbearably, “I got hit by a shock spell as I was trying to help Elm in that chamber.â€

“Hmph, and I thought it was another ghost,†Elm smiled. “Sorry, this kinda stings a little…â€

“No, it’s okay,†Arisis replied, her voice strained.

“Ya know, if it hurts, just say so,†Grond said out of one of the openings. Arisis scowled at him, but was unsure if he even saw it. They stood in silence for several more minutes and just as Elm rewrapped Arisis’ arm, Grond called out, “Hey, I think I found the exit!â€

[WhoGuru]

Red nudged Elm on the arm, grinning at Grond. "Knowing him there's some vicious beastie on the other side." She said softly and Elm snorted a laugh. "Coming Grond!"

Red slung her Welkynd bow over her shoulder and drew her sword. The Black Rose gave a liquid glint in the gloom of the ruin and she ducked ahead of Grond into the opening, eyes alert for traps. Elm and Quinn were hot on her heels followed by Arisis while the Nords brought up the rear. The tunnel was longer than she'd thought it would be. Her friend's made little noise at her back, though she heard Grond and Garulf occasionally thump one another into a wall and swallowed a laugh. They'd find humor in the dragon's jaws she suspected, laughing all the way down its gullet.

Red looked behind her and caught a faint glare off Elm's Dwemer Spectacles from behind her and then looked ahead when she heard the sound of their footsteps herald a larger chamber ahead. She slowed, feeling Elm at her back and, hearing nothing, stepped out of the tunnel. "Oof!" Was all she managed as something large took her off her feet in an iron grip about her chest. A second later, silver light flared into being and Red just saw Elm tossing something in the air. The light showed her a massive golem in who's fist she was clutched.

She saw Arisis' arrows shoot up to it's head and clatter uselessly against the stone. Red tried to move her sword arm, still clutching the Black Rose but it's grip was too tight, forcing her to fight for every breath. She heard Elm yelling below and looked down to see her pointing at the thing's chest and then just as quickly, she produced a dagger from somewhere and threw it in an expert arc. It flashed through the silvery light and planted itself just below the golem's heart.

It gave a mighty roar, rearing backward and flinging it's fists outward. The one holding Red crashed into the wall of the chamber, making her grunt and then opened, dropping her. She gasped in a breath as she fell and then lost it once more as she hit the stone floor. Around her, she could see the others now focusing on the weakness Elm had shown them. Garulf gave his hammer a mighty swing, Grond beside him in unison and they buried the heads of both in it's stone chest. The Golem toppled over backwards, Arisis, Quinn and Elm dancing out of it's way. As it struck, it broke into pieces, giant blocks of stone, that tumbled about the chamber harmlessly.

Elm was at Red's side then, helping her sit up. "Must be getting closer." She said with a grin. "Else why bother with a guardian though it was kind of weak to be guarding anything of worth I suppose." Elm nattered on and Red would have chuckled if she could get a deep breath.

"Weak!" Garulf exclaimed and dropped beside them, tipping Red's chin with his fingers. "Alright, love?"

Red nodded and smiled. "All in one piece." She gasped around a painful chest and groaned at Elm as she felt round her ribs.

"Nothing broken, just bruised I think."

"I noticed." Red used Garulf and Elm to pull herself up and grinned at the others. "Elm says good job killing the weak guardian and let's go look for more." She gave Elm her crooked smile and made her laugh.

"Do you people take nothing seriously?" Arisis asked suddenly, still deciding if any of them were worth trusting. Red's face became very serious and Arisis saw the look that passed between her and the Nords.

"We do yes." She said simply and bent to retrieve the Black Rose. "Onward and downward I think."

Arisis followed after her, seeing that the thief wasn't interested in elaborating and wondered at the look they had exchanged. Red looked back then and gestured with her sword. "Care to lead?" She smiled and wrapped her free arm about her chest. Arisis considered. She disliked having strangers at her back and yet also despised following others like a sheep. She nodded and went ahead of Red, hearing her still wheezing for breath.

"Don't worry. I'm not useless yet." Red said on a laugh. "That look in your eye, like someone should be carrying me." She laughed again and clapped Arisis on the shoulder. "You'll get used to us. I promise."

"Hmmph." Arisis turned away and led them through the chamber, over the piles of rubble left by the Golem while Red fell back between Elm and Quinn.

"Thank you." She nodded to Elm. "Crafty bit of knowledge there knowing it's weak spot."

"She guessed." Quinn said with a snort and received an elbow in the stomach from Elm.

"It was a logical conclusion given the structure of the creature and my studies on various kinds of Golem. I never guess." She said with disdain and Red laughed around the tightness of her chest.

"Oh ow, good conclusion then."

Arisis stepped back to them, readying her bow. "I smell something ahead. This chamber turns ahead."

"What's it smell like?" Quinn asked.

"Bad." She replied simply.

Grond and Garulf stepped up. "We'll take the lead now." Grond said and grinned at Garulf. "We'll use dragonbreath here as bait for whatever's waiting."

"Assuming it doesn't smell you coming first." Garulf tossed back and this time Arisis snorted.

"You know, those were the shades of dead Necromancer's back there and the golem..." Elm trailed off looking up at the ceiling for a moment.

"Elm." Red snapped her fingers. "Back with the rest of us please."

"Oh, oh yes." Elm smiled. "Golems are creatures animated by the spirits of the dead, another practice of necromancy."

"I'm beginning to sense a pattern here." Quinn groaned. "You sure this treasure you saw is worth going after?"

Elm scowled at him and hissed under breath. "We need the coin...and a horse. It will be worth it."

"Of course it will." Red stepped between the two and nodded. "If for no other reason than ridding the world of one more necromancer." Though as she said it her thoughts turned to Raurke and wondered what he and Serenity were doing, if they were alright. She shook her head. "We need to see this through. Gods know how many people have stumbled on this place and never come out again."

"Well then perhaps we stop standing here chatting and get on with it." Arisis growled and then shook her head. "Sorry. I am...unused to traveling with others."

"Hmm, I know someone else who used to have that problem." Grond said thoughtfully and aimed a wink at Red. "You're right, enough talk. Let's go."

[WhoGuru]

The chamber turned into a vaulted hall, draped with cobwebs so thick it was difficult to see but a few feet ahead and rubble strewed the floor. Red gulped audibly and Garulf draped an arm over her shoulders. "I could carry you?" He offered with a smirk.

"And I could leave my dagger in a very uncomfortable place." Red shrugged his arm off and stalked ahead. "Carry me indeed."

Grond stepped up to his friend while Red swallowed her fear and went to survey the hall. "Nicely done." He whispered and got a wink from his friend. "Horker breath." Garulf growled at him and gave him a friendly shove.

Red stood beside Arisis and contained the shudder. "I'd better go first. Traps are going to be hard to spot in that mess." She wrinkled her nose. "And that smell is vile." Arisis only nodded and let the red head take the lead. Red stepped into the hall, ducking beneath veils of webs and slicing others out of the way with her sword. She went slowly, hearing the others come behind her and sometimes curse when the eerie curtains brushed against them. She smiled, at least she wasn't the only one who's skin was crawling.

Try as she might, there was no way to walk silently in the hall. The rubble beneath her feet was small and everywhere and scrabbled beneath her boots as it did the others behind her. She was torn between watching her feet, keeping the webs from her face and searching for traps. She felt the floor twitch beneath her an instant too late. "Stay back!" was all she had time to call as it gave beneath her. Red fell into a chute, sliding at an angle down into darkness. She thrust her hands and feet out, finding the corners of the chute and pushed, slowing her fall and finally stopping it.

Red spent a moment just catching her breath, wedged firmly against the wall. Above and behind her she heard yelling and then thumping. The door must have closed behind her and her Nords were trying to break their way in. "I'm alright!" She hollered back. She waited a moment for the thumping to stop and yelled it again. "Stop trying to break the floor in! You'll knock me down with the chunks!" She chuckled as she heard muted cursing come to her.

"Can you crawl back up?" Came faintly and she recognized Grond's voice, worried. She grimaced and spent a few moments trying to shove herself higher. Instead, she slipped further down and swore.

"No. Have to go down!" She waited, hearing nothing. "Go on without me! I'll find you!" Now she heard arguing above, Elm's voice raised as well as Garulf's and finally Grond shouting them down.

"Alright!" Grond's voice came. "Meet you at the bottom!"

Red nodded, thankful he was up there to talk sense into her lover and laughed lightly. She could just picture him trying to fit himself into this chute to come after her. Down was much easier than up. She controlled her speed, sliding slowly lower and lower, ignoring her tiring arms and legs and soon the chute turned sharply downward. Several chunks of rubble had ended up in the chute with her and managed to nudge one of these over the edge in front of her.

The sound of it clattering on the floor came seconds later, telling her the drop was a short one and she smiled. She wished there was light down here, even the dim light of welkynd stones would have been preferable to the pitch black. She had a torch with her but it was in her pack, on her back and out of her reach for now. She inched forward, using the steeper slope ahead of her to brace herself against the angle.

She knew something nasty had to be waiting below, spikes probably. With the narrow chute she hoped they wouldn't be spread to widely below. Red took a breath and let herself go the last few inches over the edge and fell. Keeping her legs wide she tried to slide along the wall and came down with a grunt and blissfully without anything stabbing into her legs. Staying still, Red reached around for her pack and pulled her torch and flint out. With a few deft scrapes, the pitch of the torch caught and flared to life and she gasped, stepping back. A mound of lethal spikes were a mere inch from her. Had she landed even slightly off, she would have been speared.

"Maybe I'll go work in the shop with Jean after this." She murmured and chuckled faintly. "Gonna end up dead again one of these days if you keep this up red." She said to herself and used to torch to peer about the chamber.

It was small and there were several narrow, low ceilinged tunnels leading out of it. They were thankfully free of the cobwebs from above but she wondered what they had been made for and chose one at random. She was forced to creep along almost on her knees with her torch held out in front of her and the heat made her brow sweat as the flames licked at the ceiling bumping her head. She hoped the others were having better luck above.

[Xinimator]

Arisis swore and shook her head, “This little trip just gets better and better…â€

“Well I don’t see how that makes anything better to be honest.†Grond mumbled, still eyeing the trap door pretending to be part of the floor.

Arisis noted the tone in Grond’s voice as he said that. She recognized it as someone who really cares for someone and apparently, Grond truly cares about Red, not just as partners in crime. The hard blazing look Arisis usually sported softened for once in more than three decades. Then a fleeting memory of her sprawled on the floor of her old home near Anvil came rushing into her mind, her old emotions coming back.

Arisis shook her head and sighed. Arisis was torn between walking over and trying to console him, or to just ignore him and hope he won’t be a big fuss on the way down. Uncertain if this is the right decision, Arisis steps lightly towards Grond and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey,†Arisis started, “look, erm…I know I don’t know her very well…but from what I’ve seen from her, I…well,†She took a big breath, “She…She’ll be fine,†Arisis finally managed to say. There was a moment of silence where all they could hear was the sound of one’s breath and the occasional groaning of the Alyeid stone.

“Hey,†Garulf said, breaking the silence, “she’s right ya know; little tied in the knickers, but she’s right. Red’s tough, I reckon she’ll make it through without a scratch even for the most part.â€

Arisis spared a glance at Garulf and nudged Grond in the side, “Come on, it’ll do us no good sitting here like dumb ducks waiting for some other Necromancer to find us.â€

Grond laughed, “You’re right. Red said she’ll meet us at the bottom and I believe her. But I don’t wanna be the last one to the finish line, so let’s get movin’, eh?â€

Smiling, Arisis walked ahead of the group and whispered an arcane word to give her night-eye to scope out any more traps as the group walked on wherever the pathway took them.

----------------------------------------------------

“Ugh,†Quinn said suddenly, holding his nose, “smells like somebody left some dragon meat out to rot.†He glanced over at Grond.

“Well it ain’t me, so you can save yer breath.â€

They have just traveled through a series of twisting Ayleid tunnels and now they are in a huge chamber. A veil of blackness hung over the chamber like the stench; Elm’s torch was barely even able to penetrate the darkness. Arisis wrinkled her nose as she walked around, and nearly ran into a heavy object, creating a loud noise and making the rest of the group jump. She grabbed the object to steady herself and looked around in concern, for the noise was loud enough to wake the dead almost. Then she noticed what the object was.

“Elm, give me your torch,†Arisis asked. Elm handed the torch, where Arisis cautiously lowered the torch into the brazier.

Almost at once, the brazier burst into flame and it seemed the red flames raced to the four corners of the room, lighting the smaller braziers and basking the chamber in an eerie, reddish glow that penetrated the darkness better. Arisis quickly found where the smell of rotting meat was coming from. Gingerly, she opened one of the wooden coffins that littered the floor with her foot and she felt like she was going to hurl: Another victim that was tortured and experimented upon laid dead within the coffin, various parts of the body missing. Grond and Quinn came over to investigate, Grond groaning. Wanting to not see the body any longer, Arisis let the coffin lid slam shut, trying to retain her shudders.

To avoid looking at anymore bodies, Arisis wandered over to the block of stone that stood crookedly against the brazier. Books were scattered around on it, along with various alchemist tools and bonemeal. Picking up a book at random, she thumbed through it, realizing that it was the first volume of “Preparation of the Corpseâ€, and casted it into the red fire. Searching around for something meaningful, her eyes caught a glimpse of polished red shining in the firelight.

“Argh,†Quinn muttered in frustration, slamming the lid of the Alyeid cask, “it’s just like the last time we raided a Necromancer hideout, nothing but useless junk.â€

Before Elm could retort, Arisis interrupted, “This is a laboratory; they take the dead bodies of those they killed or find dead and experiment on them. The valuable stuff they find would’ve been put aside in another room, whether off this chamber or a couple of hallways away, to keep them from thieves like you, probably.†She took her eyes off Quinn and reached towards the red object that turned out to be a simple, silver necklace with a red jewel hung loosely on it. Arisis stared at it curiously, then tucked it away in her bag.

Garulf was inspecting the channels that were carved into the floor, all leading to a series of grates in the walls. There were dark stains that ran through them and stunk unbearably. “Sheesh, this place reeks worse than that mud we had to wear in the sewers under Sutch.â€

Arisis, finding nothing else worthwhile, knelt down beside Garulf and surveyed the channels as well, her eyes focused intently. “It’s a blood channel,†she said finally. “Sometimes they end up with a little more blood than they wanted, so the extra they pour down the channels, which most likely flow down to an exit hole miles away from here. Leave it in here and you’re going to suffocate under the heat and the fumes, and if you dump it right outside the Alyeid entrance, you’ll start attracting some unwanted attention. They have to put it somewhere.†She finally concluded.

Garulf was lost in thought, then snapped his head up, “Wait, d’you think Red got trapped in those tunnels?†Grond, who was having a whispered argument with Quinn about the colored flames, turned his head towards Arisis.

Arisis considered for a moment, her eyes not leaving that one spot on the channel. “That is possible, though I’ve never took a trip down one of them myself, nor do I want to.â€

Garulf laughed and slapped her on the back, “Aye, but then where’s the fun in adventuring if you don’t get stuck in one of the traps yourself?†Arisis raised one of her eyebrows, but then a sinister sound issued from behind them in one of the darkest corners of the room. Alarmed, Arisis jumped up and drew out her bow, ready to face what new enemy was lurking behind the shadows this time. As everyone else drew out their weapons, ready for perhaps another rather nasty fight, Arisis muttered, “Happens every time…â€

[DarkRider]

They all stood bracing themselves for a fight but none came. They stared at the shadows the growling such a far away sound and yet it seemed all around them, and then there was only silence.

“What in the devil was that?” Garulf growled, turning to his right to look at Grond, but instead of his friend he saw a shadowy creature staring back at him with silvery hollow eyes and dagger like teeth dripping with black mire, “Gods blood!” he shouted swinging his axe high and striking toward the creature; both falling to the ground in a mighty brawl.

The others turned away from the distant growl just in time to see Garulf swing his axe at Grond and send them both sprawling to the ground. Arisis turned up her nose in annoyance; once again these two Nords couldn’t leave their childish rivalry at rest. She sighed and left them; striding down the long tunnel way in search of the missing thief and the exit. Though Quinn and Elm had not known the Nords long there was a change in their candor in this fight, Garulf’s eyes were clouded and distant and Grond seemed genuinely confused.

“Garulf, stop!” Elm commanded in her strongest voice as she and Quinn moved forward to grab at his broad muscular arms.

“Ger off me, ye daft bull,” Grond yelled at his friend, “Garulf, what’s in yer head?!”

Quinn tugged but it was no use, he and Elm didn’t have the strength to stop a Nord bent on killing another. He pulled his staff loose from its harness and glanced at Elm. She pursed her lips and nodded; where they could not stop him, Dwemer craft would. Leaving the staff collapsed, Quinn swung back and struck Garulf on the back of the head with a crack. The Nord stopped, had it been another they would have certainly dropped over unconscious, but Garulf turned slowly to look at him. In his eyes, Quinn didn’t see the man he’d known, but madness. The angry Nord stood and stepped toward him and Quinn backed up slowly wishing he’d been successful. Before Garulf could swing his axe at him Grond was back on his feet and had a strong arm around Garulf’s neck. He squeezed until the light left Garulf’s eyes and the dragon hunter collapsed in unconsciousness.

Panting, Grond nodded once to Quinn gratefully, “Thanks lad, but hit him harder next time, a brick wall that one has for a head,” he said, kneeling beside Garulf and patting the other Nord’s mane of hair gently, in a rarely seen show of affection, “He’ll wake up soon, let hope he’s back to himself. Where's Arisis?” he asked.

Elm motioned to the dark tunnel way ahead, “she’s gone on to look for Red, I think.”

Grond snorted, “Guess she wasn’t too concerned about Garulf splitting my scalp,” he grumbled, rubbing the bloodied gouge on his forehead where Garulf’s axe had been pressing into his flesh, “what the hell is happening? This dungeon is the most cursed place I ever been in, and I seen my share of cursed places I tell ye.”

Elm nodded thoughtfully, “Something is wrong,” she agreed, “I’ve had the strangest feelings since we got closed in down here. I find my thoughts dwelling on things that are not in the present, that…well, that is not like me,” she explained.

“I thought it was just me,” Quinn added slipping his staff back into its holster on his back, “it’s like I can’t focus, I keep hearing things and…seeing things too.”

“It’s not just ye lad, My head ain’t been right either, “ Grond admitted, “I mean Garulf and I play sometimes, but I’ve been thinking about killing him this whole time and uh, guess he’s been thinking the same of me.” He tapped Garulf on the forehead with his knuckles and heard a groan in response.

"We should give them some room," Elm said and got a nod in answer from Quinn as they backed away.

"Wake up Horker breath." Grond said sweetly, gripping the dragon hunter’s collar and shaking him. Garulf swatted him away with an irritated grunt and opened his eyes.

"Wha' happened?" Garulf said thickly and then looked up blearily at Grond. His face was surreal, it was his old friend’s face but another, darker image seemed to lie on top of it, swimming in and out of his sight.

"Garulf?" Elm ventured closer and leaned over him, seeing the confusion on his face. "Do you know who we are?"

Grond tightened his grip on the man's shoulders as Elm leaned in, knowing too well how quick he could move when he wanted.

"Course I know who ye are…ridiculous question." Garulf retorted. He looked from Elm back to his friend and for a moment, felt rage welling inside him once more as the shadow face began to swallow Grond's. Garulf squeezed his eyes tight shut.

"Something is not right here." He said finally and earned a laugh and painful thump on the shoulder from Grond.

"Ye don't say?" He helped his friend stand, steadying him when he swayed and then grinning when Garulf felt about his neck.

"Think ye can manage to not take a swing at me for a while?" Grond teased motioning to his bloody scalp.

"No promises dragon bait." Garulf grumbled at him, looking away again quickly from the disturbing after image.

"Red is still missing," Elm reminded them, dusting her hands, drawing quiet as she stared at her palms.

"Aye, let's find her." Grond clapped Garulf on the shoulder with a furtive look, seeing that the man wouldn't look at him.

The visions and feelings assailed him as well and Grond thought some other agency was aiding him. For it seemed to him when the black visions began to cloud his vision, a sound that reminded him of the Thu'um would ring through his mind and his sight would clear. These thoughts he kept to himself. The gods knew a forsaken dungeon was no place to discuss such things. As the Nords headed toward the dark tunnel they stopped, realizing the others were not in tow as they expected. The half elf hadn’t moved an inch, and was still staring at her hands.

“Elm, what is it?” Quinn asked.

She shook her head as if he was interrupting her thoughts, “Quinlan, your torch.”

Obeying, Quinn lit a torch and carried it over to her, illuminating her hands. Her golden skin sparkled unusually under such a focused light, as did her clothing. Elm took the torch from Quinn and held it up to him, finding traces of sparkle across him as well. It was everywhere, in the dust of the ground, all over them, and resting on every surface within view.

“Graveyard dust,” she exhaled, “It’s a necromancer powder, it causes hallucinations and makes people behave irrationally. They use it to induce visions and control their victims. It’s all over us, it gets into the system through our skin,” her eyes were wide.

“How much danger are we in?” Grond asked.

Elm frowned, “A great deal in this quantity. We need to find the others and get out of here. If we continue to be exposed, we may become a danger to one another… more of a danger,” she bit at her lip as if trying to pull her words back, “I mean, we may reach a point where we are too confused to go on, we could die done here.”

Quinn started for the hall, “Time to go then,” he said, casting torchlight through the blood channel as he passed through the shadows. Elm, Grond and Garulf fell into step behind him.

At the end of the blood channel the tunnel opened up into a great chasm pit, the odor of death permeated the air. Around the chasm was a narrow stone walkway that joined other blood channels that ran up into various parts of the ruins. In the long past, the Ayleids likely used these channels to shuttle away stone and water as they mined and carved their way into the hillside. The necromancers who came later used the aqueduct system to collect blood and bodies in a macabre desecration.

“By Stendarr,” Grond cursed softly, “Red!” he called out, his booming voice echoed and resounded around them for long moments before quieting.

“Down here,” Arisis’s voice called though the darkness.

The group peered over the edge of the pit and saw Red lying motionless on a ledge a few meters down. On a second, narrower ledge, Arisis was hanging onto the pit wall, she was covered in the grime from the pit wall and her expression was contorted with the effort of holding on to the slick wall.

“How’d ye get down there girl?” Grond shouted down to her.

“More like why’d she get down there,” Quinn muttered rolling his eyes. Elm stifled a laugh.

“I was trying to help your friend,” she replied through gritted teeth, “but I could use a hand,” she admitted. She had climbed down the rock wall to reach Red, but the walls were slicker than she had anticipated. The blood and muck should have been drier, but once she made her way to the narrow ledge she found herself in danger of slipping, unable to move an inch further in any direction. He face flushed, she was unaccustomed to needing help and cursed at herself for getting into such a precarious position in the first place.

Elm looked around the room, “There’s rope on those braziers, and we should be able to unwind enough to reach them.”

The four split into pairs and hurried to the ancient braziers to loosen a bit of rope. They were able to gather two long lengths of rope, and while Grond tossed one down to Arisis, Garulf tied the other rope around Quinn.

“Don’t worry,” the Nord promised, “I won’t drop ye, not like ye hit me with a cudgel lately or anything,” he said nonchalantly.

Once the dry rope was in hand, Arisis nimbly climbed out of the pit as Quinn began his descent toward Red. As she came to the top of the pit Grond offered a hand to help her out.

“What was yer plan when ye got to Red then?” he asked her in a chiding tone, “ye should be less hasty to leave us in the dust for your own heroics; ye never know when a few friends might come in handy.”

Arisis stiffened and stalked away from him quietly. He was right; she had been too hasty this time. She had become accustomed to acting alone over the years, but it seemed there were times when having an ally could prove useful. In truth, she was embarrassed by her own bold action, and she retreated to scout for an exit, leaving Red’s rescue in their hands.

When Quinn was level with the ledge, he braced himself with a boot against the wall and tried to rouse Red. She was breathing but must have been knocked cold when she made her blessed landing on that ledge. The second rope appeared at his side and he hurried to tie the rope around her so she could be lifted to safety.

“Alright,” he called up to them when the knots were taut, “take her up.”

As Red’s body was lifted away, something glinting caught his attention and Quinn swung himself onto the ledge.

“Ye having fun?!” Garulf called down bearing Quinn’s weight on the other end of the rope.

“Hang on,” Quinn replied.

"Ye better hope I do, cause I'm tempted fierce to let go!"

There was a gap in the wall, and dangling from the crevice was a shining gold medallion. It alone would be worth several thousand gold pieces, but he found a few more pieces of jewelry lodged in the break behind it. He grinned and quickly slipped the jewels into his pockets. When nothing remained to be claimed he slipped off the ledge.

“Okay,” he called up, scaling the wall as Garulf pulled him to the top. Once the stone path was back under his feet and he’d gotten out of the rope, he showed the gems to the others.

Garulf clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder, “Good enough find for me,” he replied taking his piece from the pile and dropping it into his pocket, “Now let’s get out of here.”

Grond held Red in his arms, “Hang onto our shares until we’re safe,” he said as he followed Garulf toward the hallway on the far side of the channel. As they reached the hall, Arisis appeared.

“I have found the way out,” she told them, “but there’s a problem.”

“We’ll deal with it when we get there,” Garulf answered, “Lead on.”

Arisis lead them through the dark winding halls to a secret wall and through to alcove. In the corner, a single beam of sunlight shone through and the fresh air washed over them. The opening was narrow though, and while Arisis could pass through with ease, the Nords would struggle. Arisis pulled herself up and out, then poked her head back through.

“I will help Red,” she offered.

Grond nodded and lifted Red to where Arisis could grab her hands and pull her up through the opening. The big Nord gave Elm a leg up and she disappeared through the hole, then he turned to Quinn.

“Uh uh,” the Imperial read his expression, “I can manage, thanks,” he said dryly, before climbing up the rubble and pulling himself out into the air. Grond surveyed the gap; Elm’s golden eyes appeared, peering down at him.

“Can you manage Grond?” she asked, “We could go for help.”

Grond spit into his palms rubbing them together, “Stay back Elm,” he replied, “we Nords will fix things as we always do.”

Garulf withdrew his axe as Grond drew his hammer and they swung in tandem. With only a few strikes they managed to open the gap wide enough to accommodate their broad shoulders and their weaponry.

“After ye my darling,” Grond teased his friend.

Garulf punched him as he passed and climbed out.

By the time the two Nords emerged from the depths of the ruins Red had regained consciousness. She was seated up under a tree as Elm offered her something for her headache. Having received her share of the treasure, Arisis stood awkwardly nearby, and Quinn appeared leading their horses. Garulf hurried to help Red onto Savior’s back then climbed into Lightfoot’s saddle. Grond dusted himself off and turned his attention to Arisis.

“I guess this is where we part ways,” he said offering a friendly hand, “thank you for your help down there. Hopefully clear of the ruins we'll all be back to ourselves and thinking clearer.”

Arisis nodded, “yes, the ruins did seem to change…our behavior.”

They shook hands, “There’s a tavern not far from here through the wood we call home,” Grond told her, “tis a proper home for outlaws and adventurers; yer welcome there anytime.”

Arisis had never been accepted so readily, even though she had made mistakes in the ruins and had thought ill of these heroes at times, she was stunned, but finally found her words, “Thank you Grond.”

“Till then,” Grond said with a nod before climbing onto Mik. Quinn and Elm were already on Mystara and together the group turned toward home at a gentle canter. Arisis watched them leave and then went in search of her own mount.

As they rode home, Elm cast a look back over her shoulder at Arisis; she was certain this was not a goodbye, they would see her again; so seemed to be the way of this Tavern family.

[Xinimator]

Arisis found her steed some distance away from the ruin grazing on a patch of grass. As she approached the black War Horse, Artemis raised her head and gave a cheerful neigh. Arisis smiled and rubbed her neck, “Hey Artemis…I bet you’re having more fun than I am at the moment.â€

Arisis had met Artemis after she had saved a Legion’s son from a clan of vampires fifteen years ago. The father was eternally grateful for the return of his son and offered one of his finest horses to her. Artemis actually chose Arisis when she stalked up to her and clamped her teeth on Arisis’ bow while Arisis was busy trying to choose between a golden Chestnut and a white War Horse. As Artemis trotted off happily, the Legion roared with laughter and Arisis scowled. She tugged her bow out of the horse’s mouth, but then the horse nuzzled her on the shoulder with her nose. Smiling, she said she would pick the black War Horse.

Arisis walked over to the horse’s pouch, opened it, and saw that they were low on food and water.

“Oh, that’s great,†Arisis muttered. “We’re not going to get far without water, are we?†She climbed onto Artemis and remembered Red saying there was a river east of here. But for some reason, a voice in her head told her they were bad news and that she should stay away from Red and her friends, though for what reason it would not say. Arisis shook her head again; while the voice did save her neck several times the past few months, warning her of dangers before she even knew they were there, she was actually having doubts about this time.

“Sure, the Nords are a little aggressive, but to be honest, I don’t see how they can be so much of a threat.â€

But the voice persisted, a little more aggressively than usual. Arisis sighed and gave up; it doesn’t want to go east, fine. A tiny inn north-west of the ruin was farther away, perhaps twice the distance, but they have plenty of time; it’s not as if it was going to rain…

As soon as Arisis silently said that to herself, the clouds above her rumbled ominously and dark clouds were forming.

Arisis sighed again, “Are you serious?†She glanced towards the east, where the group disappeared, and said to herself, “Well, a roof’s better than none, even if I have to share it with a bunch of crazy Nords.†Scowling at the clouds above her, she turned her horse around and trotted east, trying to ignore the voice in her head warning and cussing her very loudly.

----------------------------------------------------

“Stop lookin’ at me like that, you daft goat!†Garulf said as they rode through the thick forest, clouds rumbling overhead.

“Hmph, just makin’ sure yer not gonna slice me to bits again, Honker Breath,†Grond replied.

“I’d be more worried about the river than myself. I only gave you that little superficial cut because I thought you were some damn Land Dreugh or somethin’.â€

“Ha, Land Dreugh. Nice excuse, Dragon Breath.â€

Garulf gave a friendly shove to Grond and soon there was a ramming match between the two as Elm and Red chuckled quietly. Elm could hear the rushing river ahead, but her ears perked up as she another set of footsteps joined theirs.

“Look who’s joined the party.†Elm said, smiling.

Red turned around as well and saw Arisis riding towards them, looking slightly embarrassed and trying to slow her horse down, but the horse just happily trotted faster. The clouds rumbled again and they heard Arisis mutter, “Oh, shut up…â€

“I guess I’m not the only one who likes to talk to herself,†Elm said.

Arisis merely glanced at Elm once the horse drew level with Elm and Quinn’s. The horse seemed very happy for company, walking with a spring in its step. Arisis glanced at Grond and Garulf shoving each other harder and harder until Grond almost fell off the horse.

“Those two are fighting again?†Arisis chided.

“Relax, it’s normal,†Red said. “They do it all the time; it’s not like they’re trying to kill each other.â€

“Yeah, um…about that,†Quinn said, glancing at Garulf.

“What?†Red asked, a confused look forming on her face, “Did something happen while I was nearly getting myself impaled and crawling through blood channels?â€

“You can say that,†Arisis replied, “We get into this laboratory, some creature growls at us in one of the shadowed corners, and then all of the sudden, Garulf starts swinging his War Axe at Grond!â€

“Nearly tried to kill him. And me when I whacked him on the head with my staff.†Quinn added. Red looked at Garulf with concern, but Elm intergected and reassured her, “It was Graveyard dust: it makes us hallucinate and causes us to think irrationally.â€

Red understood and nodded as she turned her head to the front just in time to see Grond ram into Garulf so hard he fell off his horse onto the ground. Red roared with laughter as Garulf spat out dirt from his mouth and gave Grond a murderous look, but smiling all the same. Arisis chuckled slightly and Garulf looked over to their direction. The black horse made a run towards him.

“Artemis!†Arisis yelled as she pulled on the reins as hard as she could, causing the horse to stop. Artemis glanced over her shoulder towards Arisis.

“Oh, don’t give me that look,†Arisis said sternly, smiling, “I knew what you were gonna do.â€

“What was he gonna do?†Garulf said as he hastily rose to his feet.

“Well she was going to grab you by the back of your neck and drag you up to your feet.†Arisis replied, smirking slightly, “She’s a War Horse, she responds to a man down with no blood spewing out of his gut by dragging them back on their feet.†Arisis chuckled and glanced the other direction, “And considering you Nords prefer not to wear any clothing…â€

Quinn snorted as Red, Elm, and Grond burst out laughing again. Garulf glanced at Artemis apprehensively before climbing back on his own steed and riding after Grond.

“Now that’s something I would like to see someday,†Red said, laughing.

“I may just let her next time,†Arisis said, shaking her head. There was another rumble of thunder and Arisis looked up just in time for one of the raindrops to land right in her eye.

“Argh!†Arisis yelped, clutching her eye “Dammit…â€

“Don't tell me yer gonna die on me because ye got hit by a harmless water drop?†Grond said sarcastically.

“Oh shut up, you bloody Nord,†Arisis snapped back, but smiling. Despite her ill-bearings towards the two Nords, she was actually kinda starting to like them.

If only the voice would just shut up…

[WillieSea]

They stood transfixed as a very large blob of green slime hovered around the beam of light, its sickly tentacles brushing against the beam of light near where Anna floated. Sparks of magical energy discharged from the beam of light to be sucked up by the creature, crackling up its tentacles.

The creature was somehow using Anna help it collect the energy from the beam.

Arwin steeled himself, the glowing blue crystal dagger firmly held in his hand. He looked at Jean and they kissed. Jean then followed Arwin into the great chamber were Anna was trapped in the beam of magical energies.

The blob seemed unaware of Arwin and Jean as they sneaked up to the dais where the blob was sucking energies from the beam. Both Arwin and Jean had cast their chameleon spell on themselves and had cautiously advanced.

Meanwhile Anna continued to morph slowly through her age cycles from baby to teenager and then back to infant again.

- - -

The bell to the Black Powder Magic Shoppe rang as another customer walked up to Jean as she was reading a large magical book behind an enchanted ring counter. She looked up and saw a typical ‘adventurer’ who was probably looking for some magical trinket to help them out. She glanced over to where Anna sat, sorting out a wooden box full of new trinkets that her father had brought in.

Jean sighed, her daughter had been born just a short time ago but the magics’ of the city of the slime demon had aged her to about 10 years of age.

Anna looked up at her mother who winked at her as she went to assist the customer. Anna smiled and happily pulled another marvelous object from the wooden box her father had brought into the shop earlier that morning. Mom always let her help identify the trinkets, Mom said she had a natural knack to determining what they did. It was a lot of fun and really easy, even though Mom said she was a ‘wonder’.

After the customer left, Jean once again looked over at Anna. The battle to free her from the Green Blob had been interesting to say the least. Both Arwin and Jean had stealthily advanced on the demon. It was totally oblivious to their advance, being totally engrossed in absorbing magical energies as it radiated off the changing little girl in the magical beam.

Arwin had raised that odd crystal dagger he had which started glowing brightly as he closed in on the demon. The glow had suddenly increased incrementally which finally garnered the attention of Arwin’s target.

The blob flung out pseudo-pods from its gelatinous mass to strike at the advancing and strangely glowing nothingness. The pods were suddenly severed from itself, the pain of which coursed through its being. It stood still in shock for a moment since it had never felt the sensation of being cut before. It was invincible, untouchable, a god! That was when a sharp pain streaked from the center of its mass where the blue glow had turned into a blue fire as it burned away at its slimy green mass. The blue flame engulfed the chamber in a magical explosion that shook the very foundation of the building.

Jean looked above the counter where the blade now resided, fastened to the wall in display. The once vibrant blade was now dull in color as well as edge. Its power expended, it was now little more than a reminder of the glory of its former self.

The bell above the door rang again and Jean turned quickly hoping to see Arwin but it was just another customer. She smiled faintly and went to assist them.

Anna continued to pull artifacts from the box and examine each piece. She would look at it from several angles and finally set it down and pick up a paper tag with a string attached to it. With a pen she would scribble some notes on the tag and attach it to the item, placing the tagged object into another box.

Arwin seemed to be so busy with the city guard these days. There were always reports of bandits on the roads or wandering tribes of Goblins to take care of in his patrol sector. But, it did make him some money, but mostly it supplied his shoppe with magical items. Being a Captain had its advantages when the loot was distributed.

And so, life went on for a while with little to interupt their happiness of being together. But things would change as they always did when your child has a special talent. A talant for magic...

[gdklebba2]

Errandran Storyline

"Could you lend us a few more drinks over here, Daavale?" The tall, well built redguard called. "My woodsman friend here is far too sober right now!"

The young dark elf serving girl looked over at Torlin with a strange smile on her face. She sighed wistfully, as if she was trying to recall some fond memory. The waitress seemed to glide off to the kegs in the corner of the tavern. Davaale returned a few moments later with two tankards of the inn's finest ale, making her look like a goddess to every man present.

"These drinks are free, gentlemen. Enjoy." She never took here dark eyes away from Torlin while saying this. The man mirrored her gaze with one that seemed to imply that he would return the favor.

"What in Oblivion is going on between you two?" Errandran whispered loudly as soon as the girl was out of ear shot.

" Oh, nothing. Well... I suppose that could be called something. Ohh... she was definitely something..." Torlin was speaking to thin air, not even taking his eyes away from Daavale's "lower back." "Well, I was going to take a nude bath at the hot spring last night," Torlin straightened up, turning to his half elf friend. " And it turns out that she had the same idea. At first we were a little startled, but after a few minutes..."

"Ok, that's more than enough. I don't want to hear any more." Errandran turns back to his first mug of ale. "On another note, I'm goin' hunting tomorrow. You want to come?" Torlin seemed uninterested, so the woodsman decided to appeal to his predicable side. "We can stop off at my hunting cave. I have beer."

"Sure I'll go! I love hunting with you. You wid' your bow and me wid' my sword, we can bring back at least two bucks! Big ones too." So, you wanna go in early in the mornin'?"

"Yea. Meet me out in the training yard at sun up. We'll reach the woods a few hours before noon." Errandran left his chair, heading for the door of the Tavern. He stopped just inside the heavy wooden portal. "And Torlin, try to get some sleep tonight. No bath ok?"

[gdklebba2]

Errandran Storyline

"Ahh, there you are, Torlin! I almost expected you not to show up!" Errandran looked away from the target he was practicing on. The bullseye circle was filled with seven arrows, three darts, and four throwing daggers.

"Oh, come on, you know I love hunting! I wouldn't miss this for the world! Torlin looked at the target, letting out a long, slow whistle. "Some people in the Tavern say you have been losing your touch, but seeing that..."

"People say that?" Errandran really didn't care what others thought about his skills with ranged weapons, but he found it strange that they talked about him at all. The half elf ranger hardly talked to anyone, and never joined in contests of strength or skills.

"Oh, yes. People talk about you a lot more than you think. But anyway, we have a hunting trip to start on! Let's go." Torlin swaggered over to the stable behind the Tavern, taking the best horse he could find. He mounted the proud coal-black steed with practiced ease. "I can't believe how terrible the horses we were given in the Legion were. Any beauty or pride they had was bred out of them long before I joined."

Errandran also approached a mount, this one a surefooted bay stallion. He brought his hand up slowly to stroke it's neck. After stroking the proud beast for a moment, the half elf brought his head to touch the stallion's. It immediately grew calm. A few moments later, the bay horse knelt low, allowing the ranger to mount.

Torlin stared in wonder at the spectacle. "Wha...? How...? How did you do that?"

"You just need to know how to talk to them. If you respect them, and let them know that you want to go somewhere, then maybe he or she will bare you as a rider." Errandran whispered to then the steed, and it did something that horses cannot do, it seemed to laugh.

Torlin was confused. "What did you say to him?" The ranger tied to hide his laugh, but a quiet snicker still slipped through. "What did you say? Don't leave yet, I want to know what you said!"

Errandran spurred his steed on towards the recently-rebuilt city of Kvatch. They circled around the renewed city. two hours later, the hunters were approaching the line of trees that told of the end of the hills and the start of the West Weald forest.

[gdklebba2]

Errandran Storyline

There were numerous eyes following the two hunters as they approached the first scattered trees that signified the border of the West Weald forest. If they knew who two of the eyes watching from the shadows belonged to, they would be far more worried than they were.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I know a man who should come hunting with us one day." Torlin was eager to begin hunting, and when he grows excited, he talks. "Grond is his name. You have heard of him. Big nord, talk 'o' the Tavern. Helped me once when I was in a pinch. I was part of a patrol goin' along the Yellow Road, I remember it like it was last week. We got ambushed by at least a hundred goblins, big ones ,too. They came chargin' down on us while we were in the middle of a valley. They cut off the road from both sides, and I was sayin' my last prayers to the Nine. Then I hears a bellow, like I never heard before, then comes Grond, chargin' down the hill behind the goblins, cuttin' a whole in their lines...

"Two things, Torlin." Errandran interrupted the redguard, "One: The Yellow Road doesn't go through a valley. Two: You can't remember anything from last week, you were drunk the whole time. Yes, I've heard of Grond before, I've met him, too. He was runnin' out in the plains, for some reason, and we ran into each other while I was hunting. He seemed like a nice enough person to me. Proud race, the nords. Big people, strong. He wasn't too full of himself, though."

"Well, here we are. Ready? How far in is your cave?" Torlin was not interested in the cave, but he was interested in what was inside: ale.

"We should be there in about ten minutes. Let's walk from here, it's been a long ride for the horses." The two of them dismounted, taking the reigns in their hands, and continued on foot.

There was a rough, grass-covered path leading into the trees. Leaning over the path, almost like a gate, were two ancient oaks. When the party reached these ever vigilant guardians, the horses pulled on their reigns, backing away slowly, with a look of absolute terror in their eyes.

"What is the matter with them?" Torlin pulled at the reigns in an attempt to make the beast come with them. Errandran put his hand on the redguard's arm, motioning to him to stop. The ranger reached out to stroke both horses. They calmed immediately, but it was clear that they were still troubled.

"Well? What are your ranger senses telling you?" Torlin asked almost jokingly.

"Shhh..." Errandran closed his eyes, trying to open his mind to what the horses were felling and thinking.

A moment later, he jerked his head away, blinking quickly. He shook his head, passing off what he has seen as a hallucination. "It's nothing, just... just a wolf nearby, that's all."

Torlin nodded his head, not believing his friend for a minute. "All right, then, let's keep moving. Wolves don't leave the shadows of the forest much, so let's leave the horses here for a while. We can put them over by some trees further out.

About two hours later, the hunters were relaxing in Errandran's small cubby at the base of a hill.

"Well, that was eventful, wasn't it?" Torlin was lying on the ground, taking all of the blankets to make his bed the softer. "Not single deer, buck, and not even a wolf. Not a singe creature out there today. And you lied to me. You did it badly, too. I was hoping you would tel me eventually without my askin', but apparently, that ain't gonna happ'n. So. What was it that spooked the horses, and all the other beasts here in the forest?"

"I was going to tell you, just not now. Not until we are in broad daylight again. Just be sure that if they wanted us dead right now, we never would have made it five minutes into the forest. Be sure of that." Errandran was staring at the ground, not moving in the least. If what he thought was out there really was out there, the there could be much more at stake than their dinner tonight.

Torlin seemed thoughtful for a moment, something that rarely happens. "Well, then let's go, if "they" will let us." The two of them began to pack all of their belongings into their bags, making sure nothing they came with was left behind.

[WillieSea]

Anna pulled the last trinket from the wooden box and examined it. A tag with her writing was soon attached to this last item and placed in the second, filled box. She smiled and looked at the trinkets she had kept. A pretty ruby circlet and another ring that she knew would come in handy.

Her smile turned to a grin as she thought about her plan. Mom had been teaching her simple magic spells, but she had been sneaking peaks at the books in the back room, books of powerful magic spells. And she was eager to try out what she had learned, so she was preparing for a small journey into the woods outside the town.

- - -

Time passed as Anna prepared for her secret journey into the wilderness outside of Sutch. She had a number of useful magical trinkets she had taken from the shop, as well as a backpack with food and potions. Early one morning, she gathered it all together and slipped out of the shoppe that was also their home. Silently, she brought her pony out of the stable and guided her away from home, down a still dark alley towards the city gates.

It was not long before she rode past the bored and sleepy guards at the city gates. She knew they would be changing guard soon, so the current guards would be groggy. She slipped out of the city walls without incident and she rode down the trail that her father took all the time when he went on patrol.

The sun was just coming over the mountains to the east when she decided to leave the trail and head into the forest. Sutch was far behind her now and the excitement of the day was still before her.

- - -

It was about this time that Jean was frantically looking for Anna, waking Arwin up from his deep slumber with a scream.

- - -

A light breeze blew through the trees as the sun warmed the trees and meadows bringing the cool scent of dew covered flowers to her. The light played through the tree canopy overhead as she moved through the tall grasses deeper into the trees.

It was not long before she saw the unmistakable ‘life glow’ that told her about the recent passing of an animal. By the looks of the trail it was probably a lone goblin. Anna dismounted her pony and patted its forehead. The pony nodded its head slightly and stood still. Anna then silently followed the life trail, blending in with her surroundings after casting her chameleon spell.

It was not long before she came to the edge of a burned out clearing, the smell of cooking meat on the wind. A dark frown quickly covered Anna’s face as she watched the Goblins cooking a human on a spit over a roaring fire. Seeing such a horrible scene did not seem to affect Anna other than instilling in her mind the desire to make sure the Goblins did not do it again.

With determination in her step, she walked into the burned clearing and stood there facing the busy Goblins. A moment later, one of the Goblins finally noticed her and grunted in humor at the human child that watched them. Nudging his comrades, the other Goblins also took notice of her. Drawing a rusted and dinged dagger, the lead Goblin slowly advanced on the small child…

- - -

Anna walked away from the smoking clearing where three Goblin bodies lay smoldering where they had taken their last breath. Sparks of electrical energy still crackled across their carcasses as smoke billowed up from their burnt skin.

She walked back to her pony slowly, pondering everything her Mom and Dad had told her about the world. She had secretly listened in on her parents when Dad would talk about his adventures. She knew the world could be a cruel place for people, and she had prepared for this adventure the best she could. She smiled, at least the magic spells that she had secretly learned from her Mom’s books had come in handy. But casting those spells seemed to drain her somehow, a loss that she would have to figure out how to gain back.

Her pony still stood where she had left her. Peggy was a good pony that Anna dearly loved. A small cube of sugar was quickly taken by Peggy as Anna climbed back on her back. The two of them continued their ride through the trees.

The sounds of small forest animals let Anna know there were no dangers nearby as she rode along. Her father had once mentioned that to her when they walked in the trees near Sutch. She remembered everything she was told and everything she experienced.

- - -

It was not long before Arwin figured out that Anna had left the town by one of the gates. He was currently galloping down the dirt trail where she was last seen riding. Hirrus and Parwen followed close behind him as they raced down the trail towards the Tavern.

- - -

The forest soon opened into a meadow and off in the distance was a large building, its chimney smoking cheerily. The place seemed to have a warm and inviting glow about it so Anna headed toward the place. She was soon back on the dirt road and followed it to the front yard where she hitched her pony to a rail. A sign announced the place as a Tavern and Inn. She was getting thirsty so had decided to stop and see what they had to serve.

Acting like an adult, she strode into the Tavern and walked up to the bar, trying not to gawk at the place or the people. A few of the patrons noticed Anna and watched her curiously.

She stepped on the lower rail of the bar so she could see over the counter and ordered a drink. “Barkeep! A large milk quickly!”

Wilson looked around the bar and finally saw a blond head and two blue eyes looking at him, just peeking over the bar top. He smiled and set the mugs he was cleaning down.

Wilson called out, “Right you are miss!”

He opened a cold box and pulled out a container and poured a glass of cold milk. Wilson set the glass down in front of the youth and cleared his throat, “For a new patron, the first drink is free.” He then winked at her and turned away. But, he did keep watch of her from the corner of his eyes. A child out on their own was not a good thing, he thought to himself.

He watched as the child climbed onto one of the barstools and began sipping her drink, looking around the Tavern. After a few minutes he asked, “How is your drink young miss?”

She slowly turned back to face the barkeep and replied, “Its very good kind sir.” She was thinking to herself, this had to be the Tavern that Father was always talking about. It so matched his descriptions of it. She then smiled at the barkeep, “I am sorry, my name is Anna.” She then bowed her head slightly.

Wilson looked at the young girl a moment, the bows in her hair, knowing she must have come from a nice home, probably from Sutch. “Thank you Anna, my name is Wilson, and if there is ever anything you need, or somebody you want to talk to, you can come to me!” He grinned broadly and smiled. “You know barkeeps are good listeners!” he probed for information.

At that moment, the sound of galloping hoof beats in the front yard outside the Tavern hailed the arrival of several men on horseback that were in a hurry. There were shouts as the horses came to a stop. A moment later the door burst open announcing the arrival of the city guard.

The High Elf was followed by an Imperial and a Wood Elf guardsman who looked sharply around the great room. The High Elf finally spotted the young girl at the bar. He yelled out, “Anna! What in the Nine Divines are you doing out here?”

Wilson looked sharply at Arwin, the High Elf and then back at the young girl sitting at his bar. Anna? He thought to himself… He had heard the newborn child of Arwin and Jean’s had been changed by powerful magics but he had never seen her since her birth.

A frown came over Anna’s face, it looked like her first adventure had come to an end as her Dad marched over to her.

Arwin was upset, more from the scare of their child missing than anything. He was just glad she was safe and nothing had happened to her. He smiled as he gave Anna a big hug, glad that she had a nice ride along the road to the Tavern. He knew there were still Goblins about and was glad she had not run into any of those vicious creatures.

[Xinimator]

“Man overboard!†Klork called. “Man overboard on the port side!â€

“Bring him aboard and warn the Captain,†Bokar ordered. As one of the crew ran off, Reek, Bokar, Jatu, and a number of men gathered around to pull the small gig out from the water. After attaching the ropes, they manage to pull the gig up to the deck of the ship in little time, although not very gracefully. When they brought the gig over the edge, it tipped, dumping the contents and a castaway on board. Casting a disdainful look at the rest of the men, Klork knelt down to examine the man.

“Well, ‘tis definitely a heatstroke,†Klork announces.

“Definitely?†Bokar snorted, “Bah, the last time ye said that, ye nearly has us all killed!â€

“Oh come now, how was I supposed to tell the difference between a real grenade and a dud, eh?â€

“Well, I’ll tell ye one thing, the little pin don’t pop out in fakes, ya hear?â€

“I can hear just fine without ye blasting me ears off, thank ye very much.â€

“And ye willin’ to risk a poor sod’s life with your ‘definitely’?â€

“Ha!†Klork decalred triumphantly. “Look who’s talking, mister I-Like-To-Cut-Everyone’s-Heads-Off.â€

But before Bokar could retaliate, a voice called out over the bickering. “Ye two better have a good reason for fightin’ over a dead body.â€

“Captain!†Jatu said as Hayami and Ricky approached the castaway. Ricky knelt down and examined him more closely. After several minutes, Hayami asked, “Condition?â€

“He’s alive,†Ricky responded, “barely, anyways. He has a pretty bad heatstroke, is unconscious, and is one hell of a fighter. He should’ve been dead by now, the way his heart’s acting.â€

“Ha!†Klork cried out in triumphant. Bokar growled and open his mouth to snap back, but one look from Hayami reduced him to scowl instead.

Hayami turned back to the crew and said, “Put him down to the brig and find every means possible to bring down his temperature and keep him alive. I want his possessions in my office and hourly reports on his condition.â€

“Aye Captain!†the crew piped and Ricky and Jatu worked to carry the castaway down to the bottom of the ship.

Hayami looked in the direction Jatu and Ricky disappeared. In the back of her mind, she wondered if this was such a good idea. Bokar came up Hayami moments later and handed her what felt like a pair of goggles and a blade. “Orders Captain?â€

“Sail for Diss, if this wind keeps up, we shall be there in say…nought but three weeks, ney?â€

“Aye Captain.†Bokar barked the orders to the rest of the crew as Hayami once again turned towards the sea, wondering what lies before her this time. A smile creased across her face at the thought of another adventure on the horizon.

----------------------------------------------------

Lenard awoke to a groaning sound and a stomach-churning rocking. Groaning in pain, he rolled off of the palette onto the floor, waking him up almost instantly.

Lenard laid face-down on the cold wooden floor, trying to interpret his surroundings and gather his thoughts, at which he was hopelessly failing with at the moment. The blasting pain in his head only complicates things. He shrugged off the pain and tried to stand up.

Lying unconscious in a small gig for three days doesn’t really help the body and soon he collapsed to the palette, blood gushing through his head. But Lenard could clearly see he was on a ship. He hoped he was on the right one; if he went through all that trouble just to end up on the wrong ship, then…

As he laid in bed, clutching his head, voices are heard on the other side of the door; two people sounded like they were argueing.

“Look, the Captain’s orders are Captain’s orders, and if you don’t like it, then you can swim with the slaughterfish for all I care.â€

“But to drop him off at some random port in some random city to a bunch of wanna-be healers? He has a chance, a much better chance, of recovering here than with those wood-dwelling…whatevers!â€

“Look, I don’t make the orders, I just follow them.â€

“Which will lead you to an early death for sure. Haven’t you notice our Captain’s condition? I’m all for risking my life to save the Captain and this ship, but don’t you think because of the unique circumstances that perhaps we’re better off with a…a more, er…reliable captain?â€

There was a moment of silence and then a loud thud as something banged against the door. “Don’t you ever talk about the Captain that way again, do you understand me? If you even think about mutinying against the Captain, then by Azura’s blood, you are going to wish you have never been brought onto this world. Do you understand?â€

“Ye-ye-yes,†the other person gasped and with another great thud, the person was left coughing and gasping on the floor. The door opened and a huge Redguard entered the room.

“Hmph…well, it looks like you get your wish,†the Redguard said to the Imperial, who was still on his hands and knees at the doorway, clutching his neck. Slowly, the Imperial got to his feet and walked towards Lenard, scowling at the Redguard as he passed by him. Lenard groaned and reluctantly allowed the Imperial to examine him.

“Hmph, you’re as healthy as a stubborn Minotaur, I’ll tell you that,†the Imperial said several minutes later. “You have a name, boy?â€

But Lenard merely groaned as his head continued to pound furiously.

“Look, drink some water and when you’re up to it, proceed to the Captain’s quarters on the upp-“

“Bah,†the Redguard interjected, “do that and he’s gonna stay locked up in here until the slaughterfish get to ‘im. Look, Smarty Pants, the Captain said as soon as he’s awake, take him to the cabin.â€

“But don’t you think he would want…â€

“Captain’s orders,†the Redguard said in such a tone that the Imperial did not dare to argue back. “Now get to it.â€

[WhoGuru]

Red and Savior rode slowly through the dense undergrowth at the edge of the Weald's forests. Garulf had run up to Anvil to see about his men and she'd decided a hunting trip would be just the thing to occupy her time. She had followed a herd of deer south from the Tavern and lost sight of them when they entered the forest. She spotted them now further in and drew her bow, knocking an arrow silently and taking aim. Savior snorted suddenly beneath her and kicked a branch. The herd looked back at them in shock and then bolted deeper into the forest.

"Why you!" Red gaped. "What were you thinking?" She lowered her bow in disgust and he snorted again. "See if I bring you any more apples. C'mon then. That's my dinner you just scared off." She kneed him and he sprung into motion, crashing through the last of the undergrowth and into the wood swerving easily around the boles of the ancient trees.

Their quarry was ahead. Red could hear them running and catch glimpses now and then as she rode with her Welkynd bow held low to Savior's side, ready to take a shot if she got one. The light was beginning to fade and she gasped as the herd of deer suddenly came into view ahead. They were no longer running away but straight for her. Confused, Red raised her bow and sat back, a signal to Savior to stop. He ignored her however plunging on, the Appaloosa picking up speed and she had no time for a shot as they galloped through the midst of the herd. "Stop you big oaf!" Red hollered, pulling on the reigns. Savior ignored her again and kept running, carrying Red deeper into the forest. "What's got into you?" She tried vainly to stop him, afraid to yank to hard on the reigns or fear of hurting him.

They headed for a thicket, leaping over it between two trees and came to a skidding stop in a small clearing between two surprised travelers. Savior had nearly run one of them over, a half elf by the look of him and he drew back quickly, drawing his sword as he and his friend watched Red. Savior now seemed happy to stay where he was and looked back at Red, snorting at her.

"You fool horse." She growled and slid from his back, tossing her bow over her shoulder. She stayed at his side and raised her hands in greeting. "Sorry about that. I'm not here for trouble. I'm sorry for the...abrupt arrival." She chuckled and aimed a punch at Savior's shoulder. He leaned into her for a moment and seemed to snort a laugh. "I'm Red. This is my idiot horse, Savior."

The half elf lowered his sword finally, seeing that she meant no harm and nodded. " I am Errandran. This is Torlin."

"Ran you on a merry chase looks like." Torlin piped up and flicked a wave at Red.

"Yes he did." Red looked at her erstwhile horse. Savior looked back then out into the forest, pricking his ears and pawing the ground. He looked back at her and repeated this until she got the message. Something else was out there and he'd dragged her here for this. She shook her head and patted his shoulder. "Alright boy. I get it." She reached up and drew the Obsidian Rose out of it's saddle sheathe and turned to the two men.

"He senses something in the wood." Errandran said simply and hefted his own sword again. He smiled at the surprise on Red's face. "Our own mounts sensed something and would come no further. We left them back a ways."

"Yours have more sense than mine then." She laughed and turned to face the direction Savior pointed.

Errandran studied the lithe, crimson haired Imperial and the firm grip on her unique sword, it's dark blade glinting in the fading light. "You any good with that?" He asked.

Red gave him her crooked grin. "Oh yes. Too bad my dinner went pelting off into the wood. I'm hungry." She chuckled and then looked more closely at Errandran and his friend. "You're those two Arlow was telling me about back at the Tavern, aren't you?"

Errandran raised his arched brows in surprise. "Yes. I've not seen you there. I'd remember."

She laughed. "I've been...absent a while until recently." A small sound brought their heads around and focused on the darkening wood.

"They're coming." Errandran whispered and Red nodded, raising her sword slightly. She wondered what manner of creature Savior had been so keen to put her in the path of.

[gdklebba2]

They saw them then. Trolls. More than had ever been seen together. No experienced adventurer would worry about trolls. Though Errandran and Torlin did not know Red, they could tell that she was quite experienced.

These trolls were not those they had ever fought before. These creatures had the same loping run as their more common cousins, but were far more terrible to look at. Their coal black shag coats reeked of death. A hundred jaws foamed with acidic drool. They were slavering, thinking of the meal that was to come. Already, they had eaten the entire herd of deer, but now, they wanted dessert.

Errandran looked uphill at these perversions of nature, realizing the predicament they were in. The trolls were loping down hill with the speed of a proud black stallion. The ranger raised his bow, letting off a perfectly straight arrow into the left eye of the leading troll. It staggered backwards, only to leap back up to its feet, as if it had hardly noticed.

But the half elf's bow was not yet done with the beast. A few moments later, the monster slowed, making crunching noise, as if it were cracking thin ice. After a few seconds, it stopped all together, covered in a thick sheet of ice, completely unable to move. Errandran threw one of his knives straight at the troll's right eye, shattering the entire block of ice. By this time, he had already released six more arrows, and shortly after, six more trolls stopped in their foul tracks.

Torlin and Red stared at the Ranger with curiosity. Red continued to let off arrows from her Ayleid bow with startling accuracy, though she was looking in another direction completely.

"It seems there is more to you than meets the eye, woodsman!" Red turned once again to Errandran. The imperial had seen many strange things in her journeys, but she found it strange that someone as peaceful as a ranger would wield such a deadly weapon with such skill.

"Not so much, actually, but stories will have to be told another time. Now we need to leave!" Errandran let out a long, piercing whistle. Red's horse, Savior, immediately left Red's side to approach the half elf. "No, not you." Errandran gently pushed the mighty steed away, back towards his master. "They are who I called." He said the to the horse.

Around a large, rocky outcrop, two more horses appeared. A strong bay stallion and a proud black. Both approached Errandran, jostling each other to reach him first. He pushed away Torlin's stallion, so that his friend could mount. The ranger leaped up on to the bare back of his own steed, motioning Red to do the same.

The three travelers rode off into the distance, firing off the odd arrow to slow the front runners. The trolls seemed relentless. The vile beast in the lead was only three yards behind the riders, when it suddenly cut off the pursuit, right at the borders of the grasslands. All of the mutated trolls stopped right behind the first, grunting and howling in rage.

The riders did not stop to shoot any more arrows at the enraged monsters, but instead road hard back 'home' to the Tavern.

[Xinimator]

“Give it back, you damn Nord!â€

“Ever heard of the word, ‘Please’?†Grond smirked.

Arisis scowled and ran forward to retrieve her bow, but Grond side-stepped behind the table. Arisis stepped around to the left and Grond followed suit, making sure that the table separated them. Arisis, who was not in a pleasant mood in the first place, slammed her hands to the table impatiently,

“Look,†Arisis said, with the air of trying to explain to a very stubborn child, “I am this close to exploding, and if you don’t give me back my bow, I swear to God, I’m going to set this whole damn tavern on fire!â€

“And I’m gonna make sure yer stuck in here as it burns down to the ground.†Grond responded.

Arisis rolled her eyes and attempted to get past the table once more, unsuccessfully. Grond smiled at her failed attempt and seeing a weak spot in his plan, Arisis smiled wryly and nimbly climbed over the table.

Grond’s smile faltered. “Help!â€

“Get back here, you bloody Nord!†Arisis yelled as she jumped off the table. Grond, laughing, ran as fast as he could, knocking down an occasional chair and causing drinks to smash to the ground. Arisis, being more agile than typical Nord, merely jumped over the tables as she chased him around the Tavern.

Elm clutched her stomach, laughing as she and Quinn watched the two over their drinks.

The fiasco had started when Grond thought that Arisis was too somber and needed to lighten up. So as Arisis was talking to Arlow about the different settlements within Skyrim, Grond snuck up behind her and took her bow.

Arisis spun around immediately to see Grond running off with her bow. Cursing, she cast a blizzard spell which missed Grond and froze one of the chairs beside him. Arisis bolted out of her stool and ran towards him as he said to her that she needs to stop acting so serious about everything.

That’s when Arisis punched him straight in the diaphragm, causing him to double over. But as she reached for her bow, Grond rammed into her with his head, causing her to crash into one of the tables behind her. Quinn expressed no desire to help either of them to Elm as Arisis tried to get around one of the tables Grond was using as a shield.

“Look,†Arisis finally said, jumping down to the floor, “what will it take for you give it back?â€

“Well, a simple ‘please’ would work,†Grong shrugged with a smile. Arisis, however, rolled her eyes in irritation.

“Ugh…alright, will you please give me back my bow before I set you on fire?â€

Grond handed back her bow and Arisis wrenched it out of Grond’s hand, scowling. “Don’t you ever steal my stuff again, do you hear me?â€

“Relax, ye cranky girl, I’m not gonna steal your stuff anymore,†Grond said, chuckling. "Lighten up, will ya? Ye don't need to treat everything like a bleedin' funeral, ya know." But Arisis merely glared at him as she returned to the bar. Grond shook his head, smiling, and went to rejoin Elm and Quinn.

“Bloody Nords…†Arisis muttered when she sat down and took up her Mead once again.

“Oh, he’s not that bad,†Arlow said, “He’s actually quite a gentleman once you get to know him long enough.â€

“I’m sure he is, but I’ve never been particularly fond of Nords in the first place. Especially drunk ones.†Arisis sighed as her forehead exploded in pain. Cringing, she ironed her forehead as best as she could with her left hand, but her head still pounded painfully despite her efforts and images of dead bodies, Necromancres, and piercing ice-blue eyes flashed into her mind.

“You okay, ma’am?â€

Arisis started and looked up to see Arlow looking at her with concern. “I’m fine,†she answered. “Just tired, that’s all.â€

“Well, I have a room available if you want to take it…â€

“Yes. Please.†When Arisis had paid the bartender the gold, she left her seat fairly quickly and headed towards the stairs. She glanced over at Grond, who was telling a story to Elm and Quinn in a rather animated fashion, and sighed. She felt kinda bad for the way she acted earlier, but she didn’t feel like apologizing, least of all in front of an audience. But the headache was getting worse every second she stayed, so Arisis shook her head and rushed up the stairs two at a time, desperate to get away from everybody.